Financial transactions taxation in the European Union and Croatia

Massimo Milevoj

AbstractThe paper provides a systematic review of what is known about the financial transactions tax, its practical application in EU countries and elsewhere in the world and its impacts on financial markets. A special emphasis is placed on the outlook for the taxation of financial transactions in the EU and the possibilities and constraints in the Republic of Croatia. The results of the analysis show the propensity of countries to the taxation of financial transactions, particularly because speculations on the financial markets before the outbreak of the crisis enabled high economic rents to be generated, while during the crisis period, failed speculations were paid for with ample government support because of the fear that the stability of the financial sector would be distorted. Analysis of the possibility of taxing the Croatian capital market according to the proposed European model shows that the inclusion of the Republic of Croatia in the common taxation procedure would be justified, although the revenue from such a tax would be relatively small.

Keywords: financial transactions tax; taxation of the capital market in the EU and Croatia